Purple Sprouting Broccoli - well worth the wait

Purple Sprouting Brocolli

One of the tastiest vegetables I have ever eaten has to be purple sprouting broccoli. This is so different from the usual large green heads that you get in most supermarkets today that is really calabrese. I have never found it in shops in Ireland but recently bought some in London.


I grew it first as it is one of the few green vegetables that comes into season in February and immediately fell in love with it for its taste. I have been growing it for 20 years now and have been using the variety Early Purple, which produces prolifically from about the second week of February through to April.


When it comes to cooking and eating it, the simpler the better. Today we had a light lunch of brocolli spears that had been boiled and then dipped them in freshly made wild garlic aioli. Simple but gorgeous. They work very well with pasta too - the classic Orecchiette with Anchovies and Broccoli being a favourite.


One of the drawbacks of purple broccoli is that it takes a long time to grow. The broccoli we ate today was sown in the middle of April last year. A long time to wait but I assure you it is well worth it. It is sown outdoors in a seedbed like you would any other brassica and transplanted when about 15-20 cm tall spacing plants about 50-60 cm apart.


This year I was browsing in our local garden centre and came across two packets of broccoli seed I hadn't noticed before. Both come from Thompson & Morgan. The first, Summer Purple promises purple sprouting broccoli between July and November if it is sown in intervals between March and June. The second packet contains three varieties, Red Admiral F1, Rudolph and Cardinal, which if sown in May - early June promises to crop from November right through to May. So if the promise is fulfilled I should have purple broccoli from July this year all the way through to May next year 

De-boned Chicken with Leek & Mushroom Stuffing

Chicken stuffed with leeks and mushrooms

It poured rain here all day yesterday - today is pretty much the same - so I decided to put a bit extra into making the dinner. I had a chicken and some mushrooms that were half price this week. In the garden there were leeks, carrots and potatoes among other things. I had been watching the contestants on Masterchef stuffing boned breasts of chicken and saddles of rabbit so I thought I'd give a go at something like that.....

I'm not sure how I hit on de-boning a whole chicken; I think I started with thinking about stuffing breasts but that is where I ended up. It is a lot easier than I thought but you do need a very sharp knife and a steady hand. Essentially you start by slitting the length of the back bone and then working with the blade sliding over the carcass gradually peel the flesh away. When you get to the thigh joint cut the tendons and continue to work along the rib cage. At the wings, again sever the tendons. Be careful not to cut through the skin at the breast bone but turn your bird around and repeat the process as above. Then carefully separate the carcass from the breast.

I then decided to remove the leg bones and wing bones. The legs were easy enough to peel the flesh from the bone, cutting out the thigh bone first and then removing the shin bone. The wings were a little more tricky and I only managed to remove the first bone without cutting the skin so, I guess what you would call the fore-wing and wing tip were cut off completely.

Salt and pepper the chicken inside and out and set aside. Make a stock of the carcass, wing tips, a carrot, garlic and leek greens.

For the stuffing I soaked a handful of dried porcini mushrooms in a little boiling water for about 30 minutes. I chopped the whites of three leeks, a clove of garlic, a small punnet of mushrooms and the drained and squeezed porcini, retaining the soaking liquid. I melted about 2 tablespoons of butter and sautéed the leeks and garlic, adding the mushrooms, salt and pepper, a tablespoon of thyme and a tablespoon of rosemary when the leeks were nearly done. When the mushrooms were cooked I added the mushroom liquor and about a cup of white wine and cooked until the liquid was evaporated. I let this mixture cool and mixed in the breadcrumbs from three slices of wholemeal bread and a beaten egg.

The stuffing operation was simple enough. First stuff the legs and wings and place the remainder in the cavity. Wrap the flesh around and tie with string giving you a long rolled stuffed and trussed chicken. Rub all over with olive oil and pop into a hot oven (200 C) for 15 minutes and reduce to 190 C for the remainder - about 1 hour and 10 minutes in total. I used a thermometer to check that the meat and stuffing had cooked through.

Leave the chicken to rest for about 20 minutes before slicing it.

To accompany it I made creamed potato with mustard and a carrot purée. I sautéed mushrooms and some sprigs of broccoli. Oh, and a gravy made with some of the stock and the pan juices.